Wear preventer for drill pipe



Dec. 6, 1932. c. LAMB ET AL WEAR PREVENTER FOR DRILL PIPE Filed Sept. 26. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet y],

lM'roR a; CHHELEJ L IYMB D OUELFIJ R Ran/F020 6L fi/EENCE BY 8 f7 '2" TORME Y.

1H. B/LEY,

Dec. 6, 193 2.

c. LAMB ET AL 1,889,806

WEAR'PREVENTER FOR DRILL PIPE Filed Sept. 26. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g/ wi/ 6 w y s 34 'MVENTORJ; CHfiRLEJ LHMB Douams F2. BHDFORD R/LEY,

HTTORMBY.

'on the floor of the derrick of the well.

' the water entered.

Patented Dec. 6, 1932 UNITED? STATES PATENT OFFICE T CHARLES LAMB, DOUGLAS 3. RADFORD, Ann GLABENCE H. RILEY, on Los ANGELES,

' CALIFORNIA WEAR PREvENTER FoR DRILL PIPE Application filed September 26, 1927. Serial No. 222,173.

Our invention relates to well drilling equipment, and relates particularly to antifrictionbearing for drill pipe.

' In the oil producing industry it is common practice to use rotary'equipment which employs a rotary bit for sinkingthe hole.

of a string of drill pipe which extends upward through the well to a' point above the surface of the ground. The drill pipe is rotated by means ofa rotary machine localtgd e drill pipe consists of stands of pipe which are connected together by tool joints. Each stand of pipe is about eighty'feet long and consists of four lengths'of pipe which are attached together by ordinary sleeve couplings. When the drill pipe is withdrawn from the well, it is broken at the tooljoints. Wells are almost always crooked and for this reason the drill. pipe, usually the tool joint portions thereof, will engage one side of the well casing which isinstalled inthe well. The friction between the drill pipe and the well casing causes both of them to wear. The greatest damage is done to the well casing-and very often a hole is worn therein which will permit water to enter the well. This is very detrimental to the well since the water may mix with the oil and form the objectionable emulsion. It is very difficult to locate Water leaks and many cases are known wherethe well has been abandoned because'the operators could not find where It is an object of this invention to provide an anti-friction bearing which may be placed on the drill pipe at various places, at the well, and after the parts of the drill pipe have been assembled. The anti-friction bear? ing prevents the drill pipe or the well casing from being worn.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an anti-friction bearing of the character mentioned inwhich the parts may be easily assembled.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a wear preventer in which the impacting of this wear preventer againstthe well casing will not injurethe well casing.

Other. objects andv advantages of the inventionwill be made evident hereinafter. Referring to the drawings. in which we illustrate our invention,

Fig. 1 is adiagrammatic View illustrating its utility. This rotary bit is attached to the lower end Fig. 2 is an enlargedelevational View of a wear preventer of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is aplan view of the invention :tFaken as indicated by the arrows 44 of Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 3. i x

' Fig. 7 is a sectional View showing an alternative form of the invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 11 is a well having a well casing 12 installed therein. The well is being deepened by a bit 13 which is secured to the lower end of a string of drillpipe 14, this drill pipe l4'consisting of stands of pipe connected together by tool joints 16.. The upper end of the drill pipe 14 extends through a. rotary table 17, by means of which it is driven, and has a swivel head 18 attached thereto. Rotary mud for the bit is supplied to the drill pipe 14 by a slush pump 20 connected to the swivel head by a stand pipe and hose 21 and 22 respectively. Our inventionis indicated in Fig.1 by the numeral 25. Wear preventers of the invention may be connected to the drill pipe 14 at spaced intervals throughout the length of the drillpipe so as to prevent both the drill pipe and tool joints from engaging the well casing. The details of the wear preventer of this invention are illustrated in Figs. 2 to 7.

Referring particularly to'Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive, our invention provides a pair of supporting members 27 which comprise a sup-' porting means of the invention. These supporting members 27 have cylindrical portions 28 which are adapted to fit against the outer face of the drill pipe 14. Extending out ward from the cylindrical portions are annular radial flanges or plates 29 which are spaced apart as illustrated best inFig. 3.

Figs. 3 and 6, which are preferably made of,

rubber or other resilient material and which gript e periphery of the drill pipe.

Carried between the plates 29 and around the adjacent ends of the cylindrical portions 28 is an engagement member 34. This engagement member 34 is preferably madeof a resilient material such as rubber or rubber composition. The inner part thereof is provided with .a tough reinforcement ring 35 which may be a hard fibrous material, if desired. The upper and lower faces of the engagement member 34 are provided with annular bearing members 36 having outer flat bearing faces 37 which are adapted to engage inner bearing faces 38 of the plates 29. The bearing members may be made of a suitable bearing material.

- 1 In this form of the invention the engagement member 34 is centralized with respect to the supporting members 27 and the drill pipe, by means of annular projections 39 carried on the .inner surfaces of plates 29 which extend inward into annular grooves ,40 provided in the bearing members 36.

This arrangement permits a relative rotational movement between the engagement member .34 and the supporting members 27 but prevents any lateral or radial relative movement.

In the operation of the invention, thedrill pipe and the tool joints 16 are held away from the well casing 12 by means of the engage .ment member 34 which contacts (if neces sary) the casing 12, as indicated in Fig. 3. This contact will prevent the engagement member 34 from rotating with the drill pipe 14. The friction is taken bythe plates 29 and the bearing members 36 which are especially designed to withstand wear. As noted in Fig. 3 there is a slight space between the engagement member and the plates 29 for proper. lubrication; The engagement member 34 being made of a resilient material will not in any way injure the well casing 12.

This engagement member will absorb any percussion shocks which may be created by the pounding of it against the well casing.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the invention wholly protects the drill pipe and tool joints from. engagement with the casing so that there will be no wear eitherv on the drill pipev and tool joints or on the well casing. By making the engagement member 34 of a resilient material, any pounding action of the engagement member against the well casing will not in any way damage the casing.

.Another form of the invention is illustratedin Fig. 7. The parts in this form of the invention with a few exceptions are the *same and therefore similar numerals will be provided.

In this formof the invention the annular projections indicated by the numerals are provided on the bearing members36 and project into annular grooves 51 formed on the i inner faces of the plates 29.

It will beun'derstood hat varlous-modifications of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereo J We claim as our invention:

1.-A wear preventer for drill pipe, comprising: a supporting member formed of plates adapted to be secured to a drill pipe;

annular projections formed on said plates;

an engagement member rotatably mounted on said plates and adapted to engage the casing of a well; bearing elements carried by said engagementmember and being formed with annular grooves,'and said projections adapted to extend into said annular grooves of said bearing elementsj w n 2. A wear preventer for drill pipe, comprising: a supporting member formed of plates adapted to besecured to a drill pipe; inwardly directed projections formed on said plates; an engagement member rotatably mounted on said supporting member between said, plates and adapted to engage the casing of a well:

bearing elements carried by said engagement members and being formed with grooves, and said projections adapted to extend within said grooves forcentralizing said supporting member and said engagement member.

' 3. A Wear preventer for drill pipe, comprising: a pair of supporting members having cylindrical portions adapted to fit again st the outer face of the drill pipe and outwardly extending spaced apart plate portions; an engagement member carried between said plates and disposed around the adjacent ends of said cylindrical portions; bearing memberscarried by the upper and lower faces of said engagement member, said bearingmembers formed with grooves; and projections carried by said plates and adapted to extend into said grooves for centralizing said supporting members and said engagement member.

4. A wear preventer for drill pipe, comprising: a supporting member including plates adapted to be secured to a drill pipe in spaced positions; and an engagement member'carried between said plates of said supporting member, said engagement member including annular bearing elements and an annular body of resilient material formed said engagement member, there being groove and projection means cooperative between said bearing elements and said plates.

5. A wear preventer for drill pipe, comprising: an annular engagement member having an opening therethrough of greater diameter than said drill pipe; and means for securing said engagement member substantially concentric with said drill pipe, said means including upper and lower longitudinally split ring members adapted to surround said drill pipe in positions at the ends of said engagement member, each of said ring members having a radial face for preventing axial movement of said engagement member and an annular face for preventing radial displacement of said engagement member.

6. A wear preventer for drill pipe, comprising: an annular engagement member having an opening therethrough of greater diameter than said drill pipe; and means for securing said engagement member on said drill pipe in a position substantially concentric therewith, said means including cooperative segmental wall members fitting around said drill pipe and within said opening of said engagement member, and radial flange members cooperating with said wall members and engaging said engagement member so as to prevent longitudinal displacement of said engagement member relative to said drill pipe.

7. A wear prevent-er for drill pipe, comprising: an annularenga-gement member having an opening therethrough of greater diameter than said drill pipe; and means for securing said engagement member on said drill pipe in a position substantially concentrictherewith, said means including cooperative upper and lower segments adapted to fit in circumferential arrangement around said drill pipe in engagement with the ends of said engagement member, said segments having portions engaging said engagement member in a manner to hold said engagement member substantially concentric with said drill pipe and longitudinally immovable thereon.

8. A wear preventer for drill pipe, comprising: an annular engagement member ha.v--

ing an opening therethrough of greater diameter than said drill pipe; and means for securing said engage-mentmember on said drill pipe in a position substantially concentric therewith, said means including cooperative upper and lower segments adapted to fit in circumferential arrangement around said drill pipe in engagement with the ends of said engagement member, and means for clamping said segments in position on said drill pipe, said segments having portions engaging said engagement member in a manner to hold said engagement member substantiallyconcentric withsaid drill pipe and longitudinally immovable thereon. to comprise the circumferential portion of 9. A" wear preventer for drill pipe, comprising an annular engagement member having an opening therethrough of greaterdt.

ameter than said drill pipe; andmeans for securing saidengagement member on said drill pipe in a position substantially concen tric therewith, said means including cooperative upper and lower segments adapted to fit in circumferential arrangement around said drill pipe in engagement with the ends of said engagement member, and means for clamping said segments in position on said drill pipe, said segments havingwall portions extending into said opening of said engagement member and radial flanges for preventing longitudinal movement of said engagement member on said pipe.

10. A wear preventer for drill pipe, comprising: an annular engagement member having an opening therethrough of greater diameter than said drill pipe; and means for securing said engagement member on said drill pipe in a position substantially concen-1 tric therewith, said means including coop-v erative upper and lower segments adapted to fit in circumferential arrangement around said drill pipe in engagement with the ends of said engagement member, and means for clamping said segments in position on said drill pipe, there being wall segments spaced around said drill pipe within said opening of said engagement member.

11. A wear preventer foruse on drill pipe between the couplings thereof, comprising: an annular engagement member having an opening therethrough of such size that it may be placed on said drill pipe by moving over a coupling of said drill pipe; and means for securing said engagement member substantially concentric withsaid drill pipe, said means including cooperative segments adapted to be secured in circular arrangement around said drill pipe, said segments having walls engaging said engagement member in a manner to hold same substantially concentric with said drill pipe and having other walls engaging said engagement member in a manner to hold same longitudinally immovable-thereon.

1ng said segments on said drill pipe,said 3:

wsegmentsengaging said engagement member in a manner to holdsame substantially concentric with said drill pipe and longitudinal- 1y immovable thereon.

'" In testimony whereof, We have hereunto set our hands at Los Angeles;California, this 19th day of September, 1927.

CHARLES LAMB. CLARENCE H. RILEY.

DOUGLAS R. RADFORD. 

